Feeding device for sewing machines



Feb. 19, 1952 c. R. NELSON FEEDING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 2 1947 IN V EN TOR.

Ne Z Sow BY WMmmaM/ ATTORNE'KS Patented Feb. 19, 1952 UNITED STATES OFFICE,

FEEDING DEVIGE FOR SEWING MAGH-INES;

Clarence e so ao s. N:-

assignor: t9: Wilcox &. Gibbs Sewing Machine Company New York, N. Y., a, corporation of: New York Application June 21, 1947, Serial No. 7563235 11- Claims... 1

This invention relates to. sewing machines,v and more particularly to feeding devices. of sewing machines.

An object of the invention is: to provide. an improved feeding device in a sewing machine whereby the machine is adapted not only for shirring but also. for sewing both narrow and; extremely wide hems with. facility and accuracy.

In accomplishing .this there is provided by the invention an adjustable auxiliary feeding device in the form of a puller feed which is so arranged thatrit may be adjustedto engage work-pieces either at a point. substantially in the line, of sewing. or at a point wholly to one side of theline of sewing, or at a, large number of intermediate points. When the puller feed is adjusted for en,- gaging. the work in the line of. sewing, it may function in the manner of the usual puller feed and may be used for shining and other uses. requiring. two feeds spaced. from andsubstantially in line with each other. When the puller feed is adjusted to engage. a, workpiece at, a point to one side of the line. of sewing, it. operates as, an auxiliary feeding device and, has particular utility in connection, with sewing large or wide hems in material, to provide an; even movement of the, hem, thus aiding in the sewing operation. and enabling even lines. of stitches to besewed.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, the improved puller-feed comprises a pair of cooperable upperand lowerroll ers of the machinfi. The upper roller is positionable.

by shifting it axially to various locations on the shaft, which carries it, and thus it may be. made to engage the work and cooperate with thelower rollerat points which are located either substantially in the line of sewing, or else wholly to one:

side of the line of sewing. A control and driving mechanism is provided for the upper roller, the said mechanism including novel adjustable connections whereby the roller may be located in its.

different adjusted positions. The control mechanism has clutch means having a pair of movement controlling members one of which is. secured, by an adjustable connection, to. the fork supporting the shaft on, which the upper roller is mounted, the other movement controlling member being connected: through a. link and driving, arm. with.

an adjustable connection secured to a driving shaft. having. reciprocative turning: znqyeinents. Th Qperative; position of the upper: r ller; relatedc' to. the settin s. of the. said adiustabla onnections, said connections and roller; being; so arranged,- that, the roller may; be located, at. and locked in any: f a larsonmnber. f difierentaxial positions. on the shaftoami ng; t.-

Other features. and advanta es wil he einafter appear.

In the accompanyin drawin s:

Fi ure. 1-. is a. ra mentary ear eleva n. at a sewing.- machine. havin the. impro ed teed means of the invention.

E s-.2: is a sid evation of; mosewin machine and f edmeans.

Fig. 3 is a detailili plan view o the d u tabl drivin connec ion of the eed. mean R ferrin o, i and he e...1n m chin is. a hav n av r. .mal 190st 10.- e rr ies ov narm. t and, sew n head. -2:. the sa d. Eas is n fr m a b d; '3 h v ng work usnd ins plat It T e: ew n h ad I! s the sua P Q QQt. l5, an ne le mec anism L the pr sse foo b ng on rablo w h eed:- e s l lli i he u almannen.

A co d ng o. he P es nt n n n a no nd mnrov deu ry' f ed devi e is p v ded. f r u i on un n; ith $691-$55 t otl 'a id feed. doss- H" Th said feed ng; d v ce. in the sp ifi e b d m n f h v n ion llus r ted he e n omp se -a. pa o oonera e: ow r and upper r ers, t; an a resnpt s a e l w r ro ler be ng ns der l w der han he u p o ler and-bei g; o atably g med. y me ns w haf 20 on a pa r oi s pport ng rms l 9': 4 low the w m new ies. P te r" the machine.

Th unoer r l r- 19 is m u ed. on; a shaft 2?. a ing ne hsubs ia lx equa o t e nsh. of es a tZ-IL and h r lle 1 s ix d tor- 1. .5 haf by a set screw 2.3, ensagoablewitna fiat 24-r on the shaftloosening the set screw 23, the roller l19may be shifted axially alongthe shaft 1. nd ay efiised. in. iffe e x l Po tion on the shaft. by again tightening the set screw.

The. shaft 22. is journaled in a. fork comprising. a. pair of depending. arms 25. connected together. by. a yoke 25 whichisin turn carried by. a ollow shaft 2'! journaledina, bearing 28 forming partof abra cket 29 which issecured to the sewing head [2 The hollow shaft 21 slidably recelvesa rod...

30. which. extends upwardly therefrom. and is.

securedin an arm 31 forming another partof the bracket 29. ahelioalf com res i n sprin 32 is. carried o th od. and ensa es he arm; I: the upper end of the hollow shaft 21 to yield'ably 3 urge the latter downward. The shaft 21 fixedly carries a split collar 33 having a lateral extension 34 engaging a slide 35 of the bracket, whereby the shaft 21, while being capable of vertical movement, is prevented from turning.

The shaft 2'! and roller assemblage carried thereby may be raised or lowered at will by a manually operable lever 36 pivotally carried on a pin 31 secured in the bearing member 28, the said lever having a camming portion 38 engageable with the underside of the split collar 33. When the lever 36 is in the lowered position shown in Fig. 1 the upper roller I9 of the puller feed is in its lowered, operative position, and when the lever 36 is swung counterclockwise the camming portion 38 will raise the collar 33 and the hollow shaft 21, and accordingly raise the roller assemblage carried by the shaft and including the upper roller I9. I

The rotary movements of the upper roller I9 are controlled by clutch devices of known construction, details of which are shown and described in the copending application of Albert H. Weis, deceased, Serial Number 619,762, filed October 2, 1945, now Patent Number 2,461,862, dated February 15, 1949, and entitled "Sewing Machines. The said clutch devices have members in the form of disk-like plates 39 and 40 located at opposite ends of the roller I9, said plates being hereinafter called movement-controlling members, the member 39 upon having imparted to it a reciprocative turning movement causing the roller I9 to turn intermittently in a forward direction for feeding work pieces, and the member 40 when held stationary preventing reverse turning of the roller I9.

In accordance with the invention the movement-controlling member 40 is adjustably anchored to the yoke 26 by means of a bracket 4I having a depending lug 42 entering a notch 43, Fig. 2, in the member 40. The bracket M is secured to the yoke 26 by a screw 43 which passes through a slot 44 in the bracket and is threaded in the yoke 26. As shown in Fig. 1, the yoke 26 has a plurality of threaded holes 45 for receiving the screw 43, and this fact, together with the provision of the slot 44 in the bracket, enables the latter to be secured to the yoke in a large number of different positions, thereby enabling the upper roller I9 to have different positions on the shaft 24 and yet providing for a locking of the controlling member 40 to the yoke.

For the purpose of imparting reciprocative turning movements to the clutch plate or controlling member 39 the member is pivotally connected through a pivot screw with a link 46 in turn pivotally connected with a driving arm 41 having a laterally extended base portion 48 secured by screws 49 to a U-shaped driving member 50, the latter having apertured ears I carried by a drive shaft 52 journaled in a bearing 53 on the overarm II of the machine. As shown in Fig. 3, the ears 5I of the U-member 50 are secured to the shaft 52 against turning by set screws 54, which may be spotted in the shaft. Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the base portion 48 of the driving arm may be recessed in the driving member 50 to insure that these parts are maintained in properly aligned positions.

, According to the present invention, the driving arm 41 is adjustably mounted on the U-member 50, both said parts thereby comprising an adjustable driving connection. In accomplishing this, the U-member 50 is provided with a plurality of screw holes 55 and the aperture in the base 4 portion 48 of the driving arm is made elongate, in the form of a slot. By this construction, the

' driving arm 41 may be located in a large number of different positions on the U-member 50, thereby enabling the upper roller I9 of the puller feed to be located in its different, adjusted positions on the shaft 22. Normally for any given adjusted position of the driving arm 41 the link 46 and the pivot screws connected thereto tend to prevent axial shifting or repositioning of the roller I9.

The driving arm 41 and base portion 48 there- 01 are reversible on the U-member 50, that is, the driving arm and base portion may be turned so that the arm 41 is located at the left hand end of the U-member 50 as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3. By this organization, together with the relatively long slot in the base portion 58 through which the screws 49 extend, and the plurality of threaded screw holds 55 in the U-member 55, the upper roller I9 may be shifted to and operated in any desired position between the depending arms 25, to suit various conditions of sewing.

I have found that a feed device as provided above may be used in the manner of a conventional puller feed in shirring operations for example, and for this purpose the upper roller I9 is located to engage the work substantially in the line of feed of the dogs IT, as is common practice. In addition, however, my improved feed device may be so adjusted as to adapt the machine for other sewing operations in which difiiculty is normally encountered. For instance, it enables a wide hem to be sewed 0n the machine without difficulty, by providing for uniform feeding of all portions of the hem. In accomplishing this, the upper roller I9 is shifted axially to a new position, as by loosening the set screw 23 thereof, and by changing the positions of the adjusting connections between the movement-controlling member 40 and yoke 26, and between the link 46 and drive shaft 52. A new shifted position of the roller I9 is shown by the broken lines in Fig. 1, and when in this position the roller engages the work at points which are wholly to one side of the line of feed of the feed dogs II. This is of special advantage when sewing wide hems, since it insures a uniform feed of all portions of the hem and enables the sewing to be accurately and more easily done. Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths; means mounting the roller of lesser width for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with diiferent axially-spaced portions of the roller of greater width; and means separate from and independent of said mounting means, connected with the sewing machine for driving the roller of lesser width therefrom, said means including a pair of force-transmitting members associated with said roller, and an adjustable connection between said members, arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions.

2. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths; means mounting the roller of lesser width for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially-spaced portions of the roller of greater width; and means separate from and independent of said mounting means, conanswer;

nected with the sewing machine for driving the roller of lesser width-whenthe latter is in different axial positions.

3. In a puller feed for ,a. -sewing vmachine, cooperable feed rollers having difierentwidths, the roller of lesser width being mounted for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially-spaced portions oftheroller of greater width; means connected with the sewing machine for driving the rollergof lesser width therefrom, said means including a shaft and a link carried thereby; connection means between the link and roller of lesser width, providing for movement of the link when the roller is shifted axially; and an adjustable connection between the shaft and the link, arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions by shifting of the link on the shaft.

4. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths, the roller of lesser width being mounted for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially-spaced portions of the roller of greater width; and means connected with the sewing machine for driving the roller of lesser width therefrom, said means including a shaft having reciprocative turning movements, including an arm and means connecting said arm with said roller to move therewith when the roller is shifted axially, and including means for adjustably mounting the arm on said shaft in different positions axially spaced along the shaft as determined by the axial position of the roller.

5. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths; supports for said rollers respectively, the roller of lesser width being mounted on its support for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially spaced portions of the roller of greater width, movement-controlling members connected with the roller of lesser width; an adjustable connection between one movement-controlling member and the support for the roller of lesser width; and means connected to the sewing machine and the other movement-controlling member for driving the roller of lesser width, said means including a second adjustable connection, and said adjustable connections being arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions.

6. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths; supports for said rollers respectively, the roller of lesser width being mounted on its support for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially spaced portions of the roller of greater width; a pair of clutches having movement-controlling members connected with the roller of lesser width; an adjustable connection between one movement-controlling member and the support for the roller of lesser width; and means connected to the sewing machine and the other movement-controlling member for driving the roller of lesser width, said means including a second adjustable connection, and said adjustable connections being arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions.

'7. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths, the roller of lesser width being mounted for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially-spaced portions of the roller of .zgreater width; .tand means connected Withlthe sewing machine-fondriving the rollerrnf lesser width therefrom,..said;:means;including an adjustable connectionicomprisinga :pair .of. apertured members, :and comprising screw ;means passing through the apertures of thermemhersfor securing thesametogether, an aperture of one member being elongate and said connection being arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions.

8. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths; supports for said rollers respectively, the roller of lesser width being mounted on its support for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially spaced portions of the roller of greater width; movement-controlling members connected with the roller of lesser width; an adjustable connection between one movement-controlling member and the support for the roller of lesser width; and means connected to the sewing machine and the other movement-controlling member for driving the roller of lesser width, said means including a second adjustable connection, and said adjustable connections each comprising a pair of apertured members, and comprising screw means passing through the apertures of the members for securing the same together, an aperture of one member of each connection being elongate and said connections being arranged to enable the roller of lesser width to be located in different adjusted positions.

9. In a puller feed for a sewing machine, cooperable feed rollers having different widths, the roller of lesser width being mounted for adjustable positioning axially so as to be cooperable with different axially-spaced portions of the roller of greater width; and means connected with the sewing machine for driving the roller of lesser width therefrom, said means including a shaft having reciprocative turning movements, including an arm connected with said roller and guided thereby, and including a two-part base extending angularly from the arm for mounting the arm on said shaft in different positions axially spaced along the shaft as determined by the guidance of the roller, one of said base parts being reversible on the other to extend the range of adjustment of the arm.

10. In a sewing machine, the combination with feed dogs and a cooperable presser foot having a predetermined line of feed, of an auxiliary puller-feed roller for feeding a workpiece leaving the feed dogs and presser foot and positioned substantially in line therewith; means including a fixed yoke mounting said auxiliary feed roller to the rear of the feed dogs, said auxiliary feed roller having a surface engageable with the top of the workpiece to feed the latter, and said mounting means including adjustable means connected to the roller for shifting said auxiliary feed roller on said yoke to a position wholly to one side of the line of feed to provide for feeding engagement of said parts with the workpiece in either position;

11. In a sewing machine, the combination with feed dogs and a cooperable presser foot having a predetermined line of feed, of an auxiliary puller-feed roller; and means including a fixed yoke mounting said auxiliary puller-feed roller to the rear of the feed dogs for feeding a workpiece leaving the feed dogs and presser foot, said auxiliary puller-feed roller having a work-engaging surface and said mounting means including fldjustable means connected to the roller for v shifting the said werK-engagmg roller laterally UNITED STATES PATENTS on the yoke to positionsaid work-engaging mem- Number Name Date ber either substantially in the line of feed of said 3, 7 Rontke Aug 23' 7 feed dogs or to one side of said line of feedof 5 1, Horton 1, 1922 said feed dogs. 1,959,707 Cooper et a1 May 22, 1934 CLARENCE NELSON: 1,973,608 Christensen et a1. Sept. 11, 1934 2,290,123 Wilfong July 14, 1942 REFERENCES CITED 2,325,643 Weiss Aug. 3, 1943 The following refez ences are of record in the 2,535,234 Schwartz Dec. 26, 1950 file of this patent: 

